Please help to recommend a system for video editing

[odie]

Hello,
I am thinking of setting up a system mainly for doing video editing. Have lots of VHS tapes that I would like to cut into CDs. However I am not certain about the better choices of components to put together that would give good video editing performance. Would be grateful if you could help to advise on minimum requirements (Brands & Models if possible) for the following:
1) CPU type, speed and amount of cache
2) Motherboard
3) RAM type, speed and size
4) Harddisk type, speed and size
5) Graphic card requirements
6) Video editing hardware and software
7) Others?
Thank you very much.

[Whyzman]

Hello odie,

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

I think it would help tremendously to narrow the focus if you would provide price parameters....What kinda bucks you willing to toss into this endeavor?! :)

[odie]

Hello Whyzman,

Thanks for your reply. I am writing from Singapore and the pricing of components are different from America, so I think it may not be appropriate to list down price parameters. A minimum system specification that would ensure no frame loss when capturing video (especially analog video, composite-input) is what I am looking for. A friend suggested MSI-KT4 mainboard with Athlon-XP 1.8GHz. Any comments on this board and the other components to complete the system? Thank you.

[saphalline]

AthlonXP's may be the CPU of choice for gaming, but if the main job of this PC will be video editing, then Intel is your best bet. Yes, P4's are more expensive than AthlonXP's per MHz, but P4's are the best for all those "content creation" apps (editing pics, video, & audio), and let's face it - P4's run cooler than AthlonXP's! :cool:

First off, a P4 at around 2GHz would probably be your minimum, with 2.8GHz coming in at a nice upper range. Try to get a 533MHz fsb P4 if you can, because it's a free speed boost over the old 400MHz fsb.

RAM is the next thing you'll need to choose. Right now, RDRAM reigns supreme when matched to a P4, specifically PC1066 RDRAM, but is quickly losing favor as the new dual-DDR chipsets loom closer to release. If you can wait another month or two, a dual-DDR mobo will give excellent performance for a nice price break. Don't be put off by the fact that you'll need two DDR RAM sticks in order to use it, that's the way RDRAM works anyhow, and DDR RAM is cheaper than RDRAM. I'd say a minimum of 512MB of RAM for a video editing PC, but 1GB would be smoking! Those dang editing programs eat up all the RAM you can give them, so keep that in mind at least for an upgrade later.

The hard drive of choice for just about anyone would have to be a Western Digital "special edition" (aka "JB" series) because they have a huge 8MB cache (which helps a lot in sequential transfers like MPEG2/DIVX files). The WD800JB is the current sweet spot with 80GB of space, but they also make 40GB, 100GB, 120GB, and I think a new 160GB version. The trick is to find the "JB" at the end - the ones with "BB" at the end only have a 2MB cache so they aren't as good.

Don't mess around with all those gaming card posing as "video editing solutions", the only name in 2D graphical work is Matrox! There's only two choices these days: the Matrox G550 and the Parhelia 512. The first one is cheap and very adequate for near-professional 2D pic/video work, while the second is an absolute 2D powerhouse with a price tag to prove it! Let me say this - if I were you and I had to make some trade-offs, I'd get a slower P4 and less RAM if it meant I could have a Parhelia 512 instead of a G550. That's how much better it is! Whether or not you'll need all its power and features depends on what you want to do, tho.

Don't know what to offer for advice on a video input/output card or software, but hopefully others will give their (good) advice.

[tinydot]

Generally you need a fast system to have smooth and fast editing in video. Get the fastest, if within your budget, components.

Economical solution:
1) AMD Athlon XP or P4, as long as it is fast and large cache.
2) Your preference.
3) DDRAM PC2100 and above - as much as you can afford, minimum 512mb.
4) Minimum 40GB, 7200rpm.
5) A standard Geforce series should be good enough, of course, more video memory the better it is.
6) Adobe Premier(for capturing video to digital format) and Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro (Mac User) for compositing footage and Cleaner 5(by Discreet) to streamline your files.
7) Necessary cables to transfer your video footage from source to your computer - Firewire would be best. If you dont have, a USB2.0 should be good enough.

General note: Remember to use video compressors to make your video files smaller, like Sorenson or DivX.

[gwallen4]

I'm using the following system for video capture from Hi-8. I capture in mpeg2 at 740x480. My system is one year old so faster components are available, but my system is plenty adequate to grab video with no lost frames.

Shuttle AK31A MB
AMD Athlon XP1700+
256 MB 2100 DDR memory
Matrox 450-eTV video card
80 GB Western Digital HD ATA100
Samsung 40X - CD-RW
Toshiba 16X DVD

You can build this whole system now for way less than $500. The components are slow by todays standard but still get the job done. My point is that any modern computer will work for what you want. You just need to get some kind of board that will do mpeg2 capture, and you need plenty of HD space.

One hour of mpeg2 capture will net you 3.6 GB of HD space, so 80 MB is a minimum. For VHS a board that will do analog video capture is mandatory.